The present invention relates to an installation for transferring receptacles each having a neck provided with a collar. By way of example, an installation of this type can be used in a bottling plant.
In a bottling plant, it is common practice to provide transfer installations that take receptacles reaching the installation and share them between two outlet paths. For example, such an installation can be placed at the outlet from a carousel for stoppering receptacles in order to direct properly stoppered receptacles to a zone for packaging them in batches, and poorly stoppered receptacles towards a storage zone.
Transfer installations are known that comprise a main conveyor belt, a branch conveyor belt, and a deflector member movable between a projecting position in which the deflector member causes receptacles placed on the main conveyor belt to be deflected onto the branch conveyor belt, and a retracted position in which the receptacles remain on the main conveyor belt. Such an installation is effective only if the receptacle to be deflected is stable since otherwise it risks falling over while being deflected. In order to avoid toppling the receptacle while it is being deflected, the deflector member engages the body of the receptacle level with its center of gravity. It is therefore necessary to adjust the deflector member as a function of the height of the receptacle. Because deflection is applied to the body of the receptacle, the amplitude of the displacement of the deflector member is relatively large, and that limits the operating throughput of such an installation. Furthermore, in order to avoid sudden deflection which might topple receptacles, the speed of the main conveyor belt is relatively low.
Transfer installations also exist that act on the neck, which installations comprise an upstream transport starwheel, a first downstream transport device constituted by a transport starwheel, and a second downstream transport device. The upstream transport starwheel and the transport starwheel of the first downstream transport device have outlines fitted with clamps for taking hold of receptacles by the neck. The clamps are connected to individual control means. Thus, a receptacle is transferred from the upstream transport starwheel to the first downstream transport device by opening the clamp holding the receptacle to the upstream transport starwheel and by simultaneously closing the corresponding clamp on the transport starwheel of the first downstream transport device onto said receptacle. When a receptacle is to be transferred from the upstream transport starwheel to the second downstream transport device, the corresponding clamp on the upstream transport starwheel is held closed while passing through the first downstream transport device and the corresponding clamp on the transport starwheel of the first downstream transport device is left open. Such an installation is complex, in particular concerning the way the clamps are controlled individually. In addition, the clamps are subjected to friction and to forces that give rise to them suffering a relatively large amount of wear.
An object of the invention is to provide a receptacle transfer installation which is simple and of low cost while nevertheless making high rates of throughput possible.
To achieve this object, the invention provides an installation for transferring receptacles each having a body surmounted by a neck provided with a collar, the installation comprising an upstream transport starwheel adapted to support the receptacles by their necks, a first downstream transport device constituted by a transport starwheel, at least one second downstream transport device, a fixed upstream guide extending around a portion of the upstream transport starwheel as far as the first downstream transport device, and a fixed downstream guide having a first branch extending from the upstream transport starwheel around a portion of the transport starwheel of the first downstream transport device and a second branch extending around a portion of the upstream transport starwheel between the first and second downstream transport devices. The installation comprises a deflector member mounted over the upstream transport starwheel and the transport starwheel of the first downstream transport device to move between a first position in which the deflector member extends the first branch of the downstream guide over the upstream transport starwheel, and a second position in which the deflector member connects the upstream guide to the second branch of the downstream guide.
Transfer from the upstream transport starwheel to the transport starwheel of the first downstream transport device is thus implemented by deflecting the neck of the receptacle. Since the cross-sectional size of the neck of the receptacle is generally relatively small, the amplitude of the displacements of the deflector member is not large and as a result the displacements of the deflector member can be very fast. In addition, for bottles at a given spacing, the distance between two necks is relatively large thus giving sufficient time to enable the deflector member to be inserted between two necks even when the travel rate of the receptacles is high. Furthermore, the deflector member is situated above the transport starwheels where there is generally a relatively large amount of space available, thereby simplifying construction of the transfer installation.
In a particular embodiment, the deflector member comprises two facing rows of segments, and the installation has means for displacing the segments in each row independently of one another. When rates of throughput are very high or when the necks are closely spaced together, displacing the segments independently of one another makes it possible to deflect one receptacle without interfering with the following receptacle.